CLASS NOTES
’81
Class of 1980: Rick Fowler, John Shuman, Pat Griffin, Jack Keane and Jim Lunsford at VMI in November 2014. Norfolk as the deputy director of Submarine Operations at SUBLANT. Their son, Brendan, has applied to VMI. Mark and Darleen Sobota sent a letter and a page of photos from Ohio. The highlight of their year was the birth of their granddaughter, Lily. They are expecting a grandson in March. Mark is retired from the Air Force and works with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program at WrightPatterson Air Force Base. Hal and Kathy Snyder sent a holiday email from Maryland with an attached page of photos. Hal is retired from the Army and runs a dental practice. Their daughter, Margot, is getting married in May in England. Their son, Hunter, completed graduate school at Oxford and is in Greenland on a Fulbright Scholarship. Their son, Connor, is a 4th Class cadet at VMI. Tracy and Jennifer Wilson sent a card with a note and photos from Alexandria, Virginia, showing their daughters, Sienna, age 10, and Ellie, age 7. Also shown were photos taken on their vacation in Italy. Jennifer is employed at the International Monetary Fund. Tracy is with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in D.C. Walt and Mary Lynne Wood sent warm Christmas wishes from the Peruvian Andes where they run a nonprofit that they founded. They plan to attend our reunion. Thank you to all who reached out. December ended with an email from Charlie Hansrote in response to the end-of-year class agent letter. Charlie and Jill plan to attend our reunion. January began with an email from Bert Schneider with photos of the view from his Arizona home after a snowstorm.
2015-Issue 2
Phil Munisteri sent an email with a link to an article containing a story about Phil being named 2014 Educator of the Year. The details should appear elsewhere in this issue. (Editor’s Note: See page 158 for more on Phil Munisteri’s award.) John Blankenship sent an email with photos taken at the house purchased by Paul and Ann Burkholder on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River near Woodstock, Virginia. No one recognized Jan. 28 this year. I spoke with Chris Dombalis. Chris has returned to New Jersey full-time to run a startup. Chris had been dividing his time between New Jersey and Florida running a shipping company. Dave Hageman called from New Orleans, where he and Diana were participating in the Krewe du Vieux parade. They live in Michigan where Dave occasionally sees Jody Weatherwax. February began with Patti and me hosting Matthew and Tanya Keys for the Super Bowl. Pat Griffin, through Hugh Fain, arranged for a conference call to discuss plans for our reunion. Participants included John Alerding, Jack Keane, Rob Quarles and Scott Sayre. Stay tuned for details. During the call, Scott Sayre mentioned he had been joined by Mike Bellamy, Craig Jones, Andy Ludlum, Pat McCarthy, Dan Sweeney and Walt Wood at the 50th anniversary of the installation of the VMI chaplain. Lastly, Elliott and Amy Wolffe have fully relocated from New Orleans to New Jersey. They recently closed on a house and plan to attend our reunion. Thank you for your continuing support. Please keep in touch and please save the dates of our 35th Reunion.
Trip Lloyd
Dear Brother Rats and Families, Our Brother Rat Gordon T. Ivascu died Nov. 20, 2014, after a determined battle against cancer. Gordie was 54 and a resident of Winchester, Virginia. His life was celebrated with his family Tuesday night, Nov. 25, 2014, in Strasburg, Virginia. Gordie was born Dec. 24, 1959, in St. Paul, Minnesota, a son of Elaine U. Ivascu and the late George Ivascu. He graduated from Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, and was a 1981 graduate of Virginia Military Institute. He was the owner of Anthony’s Pizza in Strasburg, Virginia, and the prior vice president of Toll Brothers Builders, Inc. He married the love of his life and best friend, Nancy Lee Piccioni, Jan. 10, 1987, in Olney, Maryland. In addition to his loving wife, Nancy, he is survived by his mother, Elaine Ivascu; his beloved children, Kristi and husband John, Mike and wife Samantha, Mallory and husband Christopher, and Jessica; five grandchildren; and brother, George. Jim Frishkorn shared the following: “The Class of ’81 had a great turnout at last night’s visitation for Gordie – 18 of our BRs attended. His mother was very emotional as the guests started arriving, but as our BRs began paying their respects to the family, she quickly bounced to her feet and gave everyone big hugs, swapped stories and reminisced about the great lessons that VMI had taught her son. Gordie was apparently not the most organized kid while growing up. She shared some fond memories from his rat year, to include Parents Weekend where she marveled at the way he folded his socks into little ‘smiley faces’ and his underwear was the width of a Brasso can. She was quick to share that he shed these lessons after leaving (or perhaps while still at?) VMI. Both Gordie’s mother and his wife, Nancy, were very appreciative of all the support and well-wishes that his BRs had given him over the past year. They shared that he loved VMI, and he especially loved his BRs. Those in attendance included Trip Lloyd, Mark Vasco, Ben McClellan, Hank Lee, Rick McCue, Bruce Kitchen, Gary Morgan, Grover Outland, Ken Herbert, Mac Spears, Gene Loving, Jeff Adler, V Wood, Ron Mislowski, Scott Marsh, Clinker Moss and Gunny Olsen. The VMI Alumni Association sent a stunning bouquet of flowers. Gordie’s family wanted the evening to be a celebration of life and they succeeded, complete with beer and pizza.” Brother Rat John Ferry’s beloved father and
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